The state TV headquarters, the international airport and a military base in the city were all targeted.

 

Religious leader Paul Joseph Mukungubila told the BBC his followers² carried out the raids.

 

Information Minister Lambert Mende said the situation was now under control and about 46 attackers had been killed.

 

Meanwhile, the army has also clashed with unknown gunmen on the outskirts³ of Lubumbashi, according to a military spokesman.

 

He some of the attackers in Lubumbashi, the main city of DR Congo's southern mineral-rich Katanga province, had been arrested.

 

President Joseph Kabila, who won his second term in office two years ago, is touring Katanga but was not under any threat, Mr Mende told the BBC.

 

 

Mr Mende said the attackers at the state TV and radio headquarters had been armed with weapons such as knives, and there was "no chance of them even to maintain their positions, even for a single hour". 

 

"People were frightened when security personnel were firing against these attackers," the minister told the BBC's Focus on Africa radio programme after visiting the RTNC headquarters.

 

He said the attackers numbered fewer than 100 and that the security forces had killed about 46 of them and captured about 10.

 

On the government's side, an army colonel was killed when the attackers struck the military base, Mr Mende told the BBC.

 

He said he understood that two staff members forced to read a statement on TV were safe.

 

Reuters said the statement appeared to be a political message against President Kabila's government.

 

"Gideon Mukungubila has come to free you from the slavery of the Rwandan," said the message, according to Reuters.

点击收听单词发音